Fox News -Is Cruising still a good value?

Hello - Check out this article if your interested. http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2015/04/13/is-cruise-still-good-value/

Does anyone here agree with Vicki Freed (Sr VP of sales for RC).?

I really enjoy cruising, but I'm having a hard time finding the "shrimp and smoked salmon" these days.

Per Vicki:

“When you look at everything that a cruise includes – wonderful cuisine, outstanding entertainment, and your hotel-- and you look at the price you pay on a per day basis,” explains Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales for Royal Caribbean, “you couldn’t find a better deal on land.”

And she balks at the idea that the lines have begun to “nickel and dime” their customers or – worse – lower the quality in the dining rooms in order to encourage guests to eat at the for-a-fee specialty restaurants.

“You can fool your consumers once, but they won’t come on board again,” explains Freed. “If they don’t see shrimp or smoked salmon, they won’t be fooled. Today, consumers have the power of social media, and they’re smart. They’re savvy.”

“You can fool your consumers once, but they won’t come on board again.”

Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales for Royal Caribbean

Hello - Check out this article if your interested. http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2015/04/13/is-cruise-still-good-value/

 

Does anyone here agree with Vicki Freed (Sr VP of sales for RC).?

 

I really enjoy cruising, but I'm having a hard time finding the "shrimp and smoked salmon" these days.

 

Per Vicki:

 

“When you look at everything that a cruise includes – wonderful cuisine, outstanding entertainment, and your hotel-- and you look at the price you pay on a per day basis,” explains Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales for Royal Caribbean, “you couldn’t find a better deal on land.”

 

And she balks at the idea that the lines have begun to “nickel and dime” their customers or – worse – lower the quality in the dining rooms in order to encourage guests to eat at the for-a-fee specialty restaurants.

 

“You can fool your consumers once, but they won’t come on board again,” explains Freed. “If they don’t see shrimp or smoked salmon, they won’t be fooled. Today, consumers have the power of social media, and they’re smart. They’re savvy.”

 

“You can fool your consumers once, but they won’t come on board again.”

 

Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales for Royal Caribbean

Apparently she hasn't been on a ship in a while.

“You can fool your consumers once, but they won’t come on board again,” explains Freed. “

From all the changes lately, I did not think Royal was very interested in repeat customers anymore.

Over the years we have cruised less and less while we choose land based trips more and more. Smaller groups as well as fewer "demanding Royals" where families can share a relaxed time together. IMO cruising went from a customer based vacation delivery service to a bottom line, cut costs, make the turn over quicker and run the employees into the ground undertaking. River cruising is still a consumer friendly way to spoil yourself on vacation IMO. Cheers.:)

While I cannot deny that cruising is not the same experience as it was when we started 30 years ago, for our taste, it does remain the best bang for our travel dollar. When I consider the upcharge for various specialty restaurants to what we would pay for a comparable dining experience on land, I do feel that we are getting quite a value.

RC as well as every other cruise line is a business driven by shareholders and profits and while service and perceived quality may have declined in some folks' minds, I doubt there are very many service-oriented businesses operating on the same level as in years past.

I saw plenty of shrimp. I'm not so sure about smoked salmon, because it's not something that I look for. But I still find the food to be good quality.

I've been looking at All Inclusives for months now. We were originally set on the Hard Rock in Punta Cana. One week for two was $3400. Basic room. Sandals? Add $2k more for a basic room. I have a Central Park balcony on the worlds largest ship and two drink packages for $1k less than the all inclusive in Punta Cana. No complaints here.

IMO she is correct. You don't have to spend anything extra if you don't want to.

For Example, DW and I booked a GS, a first for us, on the Oasis. Lets just take the price of the cruise with no extra. The cruise was about $4500. Divide that by 7 and it comes just over $600 per day. That includes a hotel room and 3 meals a day plus any snacks from the Promenade.

Now check the price of tickets to Disney World, add in hotels, meals and anything else you might want and I would be willing to bet that you would be close to $600/day, if not over.

So for me and my wife yes cruising is a good value vacation.

Unless you go to a super posh place in the Chicago area, you can get a drink for a whole lot less than $12 (150% over what is charged in general). I can get a decent steak for around $30 at several good restaurants without paying for another meal (main dining room included in fare). We're not talking Mortons Steakhouse or the Signature room on the 95th floor of the Hancock Building, but then Royal isn't serving that steak either. I remember when the filet was standard on the MDR menu. Times change, and cruise lines will charge whatever the market will pay. I like being able to enjoy a port during the day and being able to wake up to a new port the next. Traveling while I sleep is the draw for me. We don't cruise as much as we used to. We are taking more road trips and seeing more of the country. It's expensive to travel to any port from here whether we go by air or drive. We'll continue to take the occasional cruise. Let's face it, you can't drive to St. Croix, but it's not the shiny experience it once was. The experience has been tarnished. (Even the "hotel" side has been very downgraded over the years)

Its certainly not the value it used to be. That said, overall for us it still is a great value for us compared to a land vacation. We make it the best we can by utilizing whatever perks are still available to us such as the balcony discount, and the perks loaded on our sea pass cards. We generally always have OBC so we use that for a specialty dinner, bottle of wine, etc.

The food quality has diminished some but I have never expected it to be fine dining caliber. We always book a balcony cabin and have never paid more than $100 pp a day. Given that it includes a beautiful view and free meals, we find it to be worth it. We almost always have prepaid gratuities through our TA so the value only increases.

We simply avoid paying the extravagant prices for a beverage package, spa treatments, specialty dining, photo packages, internet. We utilize the perks we have and that's it. It pains me enough to pay $3 for a soda after our 2 welcome aboard ones are gone.:eek:

Funny -

We started our last cruise with a nigh at the Chicago Airport Hilton. I remember commenting that the $8 Hilton drink would get me ready for the prices on the ship. Tough to accept that it is even more on the ship.

It's also tough to accept the comments from RC executives that they haven't raised prices in years, cut any corners in the MDR, or "nickel and dimed" customers.......or for that matter raised prices to market "BOGO" sales.

I understand that the market has changed, if you want me to come back don't lie to me

Thanks

Don't forget that almost everything has gone up in price during the years! Most probably they are getting a huge break now with the falling oil prices.

cruising has gotten cheaper. I don't necessarily think the value has improved though. If low price was the only barometer a McDonald's dinner would be the best value around

If one does their homework and knows the intricacies of cruise line pricing, yes it is an excellent value.

We priced flying to and from Hawaii and what it would cost to visit the same islands as we are seeing on Legend next month and the cruise was way cheaper! We booked an interior cabin for $629 pp 10 days to Hawaii and a couple of Delta tickets home for around $1000. We are lucky to be able to use points and did so for the San Diego flights. Rccl is busing us over to Ensenada free to catch Legend.

I have N-laws who go there once a year to stay in their time shares(free) and spend way more that we have. And they must pay for all their food, which isn't cheap on island.

In our case cruising always comes out cheaper in the long run and more fun to boot, plus I don't have to lift a finger, don't have to run around trying to get into a restaurant every evening while on vacation and I get to sit on deck and watch Big Blue all day for 6 days....ahhhh, my idea of relaxing;)

Yes, some perks have disappeared and we may not drink as much, but damn its good....and that's enough about that:p

Funny -

 

We started our last cruise with a nigh at the Chicago Airport Hilton. I remember commenting that the $8 Hilton drink would get me ready for the prices on the ship. Tough to accept that it is even more on the ship.

 

It's also tough to accept the comments from RC executives that they haven't raised prices in years, cut any corners in the MDR, or "nickel and dimed" customers.......or for that matter raised prices to market "BOGO" sales.

 

I understand that the market has changed, if you want me to come back don't lie to me

 

Thanks

good points here...

Apparently she hasn't been on a ship in a while.

No shortage of these items or snails last Sept on the Rhapsody.

Funny -

 

We started our last cruise with a nigh at the Chicago Airport Hilton. I remember commenting that the $8 Hilton drink would get me ready for the prices on the ship. Tough to accept that it is even more on the ship.

 

It's also tough to accept the comments from RC executives that they haven't raised prices in years, cut any corners in the MDR, or "nickel and dimed" customers.......or for that matter raised prices to market "BOGO" sales.

 

I understand that the market has changed, if you want me to come back don't lie to me

 

Thanks

First, I think many people are under the mistaken impression that every drink on the ships cost $12. That is not the case. There are still some basic drinks for around $7-8.

I don't know if they've said they haven't raised prices in years. Did they say that about cruise fares or about drink prices or what?

I certainly didn't see anything that said they had not cut any corners in the dining room. I saw her refuting the idea that they had lowered the dining room quality in order to drive passengers to the specialty restaurants. And, I think she's probably right there. There have been changes that help save money, but I think saving money is the purpose - not driving people away from the venue.

I don't think they are lying to you.

Now, if they say they haven't raised prices to market BOGOHO sales, that would be, at best, stretching the truth. They might actually not have changed the full "brochure" rates, but they definitely go up, when a sale like that starts. But I haven't really seen where a company executive made such a claim.

First, I think many people are under the mistaken impression that every drink on the ships cost $12. That is not the case. There are still some basic drinks for around $7-8.

Other than beer or wine, what drinks are around $7-8?

FWIW, I have far less concerns about my cruise dollar than I do about my airfare dollar. You want to talk nickels and dimes? Try flying.

First, I think many people are under the mistaken impression that every drink on the ships cost $12. That is not the case. There are still some basic drinks for around $7-8.

 

I don't know if they've said they haven't raised prices in years. Did they say that about cruise fares or about drink prices or what?

 

I certainly didn't see anything that said they had not cut any corners in the dining room. I saw her refuting the idea that they had lowered the dining room quality in order to drive passengers to the specialty restaurants. And, I think she's probably right there. There have been changes that help save money, but I think saving money is the purpose - not driving people away from the venue.

 

I don't think they are lying to you.

 

Now, if they say they haven't raised prices to market BOGOHO sales, that would be, at best, stretching the truth. They might actually not have changed the full "brochure" rates, but they definitely go up, when a sale like that starts. But I haven't really seen where a company executive made such a claim.

My comment regarding pricing was based on a comment from Richard Fain RC CEO on March &, 2015

Pricing. All panelists agreed cruise is a great value -- but is it too much of a bargain? Norwegian's Del Rio says that a fare hike of $5 per day would result in more profitable cruise lines. RCCL, according to Fain, has "not managed to raise pricing in six years."

You are entitled to your opinion. I have compared what I have paid for my last 20 cruises versus the prices for the same cruises recently. I am seeing an upward trend. When I compare the experience I have had over the years (MDR, buffets, staffing, decorations....) I am seeing a downward trend. The surveys appear to be showing this as a majority opinion. I still enjoy every minute of my vacation and will continue to shop every day for the best value.

Thanks for your comments

No shortage of these items or snails last Sept on the Rhapsody.

It's been recent. A few reports in the past month on several ships. On Enchantment and the executive chef was telling us that the salmon is now available on request only and they are not offering the shrimp cocktail on the first couple of nights.

Its certainly not the value it used to be. That said, overall for us it still is a great value for us compared to a land vacation. We make it the best we can by utilizing whatever perks are still available to us such as the balcony discount, and the perks loaded on our sea pass cards. We generally always have OBC so we use that for a specialty dinner, bottle of wine, etc.

The food quality has diminished some but I have never expected it to be fine dining caliber. We always book a balcony cabin and have never paid more than $100 pp a day. Given that it includes a beautiful view and free meals, we find it to be worth it. We almost always have prepaid gratuities through our TA so the value only increases.

We simply avoid paying the extravagant prices for a beverage package, spa treatments, specialty dining, photo packages, internet. We utilize the perks we have and that's it. It pains me enough to pay $3 for a soda after our 2 welcome aboard ones are gone.:eek:

The highlighted in Red of your comment, can be said for lots of things......and what is Bold and in Green I certainly agree with as well.

I posted the thread regarding no shrimp cocktail on Jewel on the menu any night in the MDR and no shrimp on the fishermans plate. I asked for one the first night and my waiter had to get approval from the Head waiter to bring one to me.

I also posted a thread regarding RC now charging $10 for a hamburger in Seaview café on Jewel after 6PM.

Still had a great cruise - just seeing a downward trend.

For my husband & I a cruise allows us to see places we might not ever get to while providing us with a place to sleep & eat and watch entertainment. Added cost naturally, air, tours , onboard expenses.

Other than beer or wine, what drinks are around $7-8?

That seemed to be the going rate (before gratuities) for simple drinks like a mojito or gin & tonic on my sailing. Martinis and fancier cocktails tended to be $10 - 12.